A posteriori error estimation for \(h-p\) approximations in elastostatics (Q1330483)

In recent work [\textit{M. Ainsworth} and \textit{J. T. Oden}, Numer. Math. 65, No. 1, 23-50 (1993; Zbl 0797.65080)], a general approach for developing a posteriori error estimates for finite element approximations of linear elliptic boundary value problems in two dimensions was presented. This approach is based on a generalization of the error residual method in which a local, elementwise error estimator is calculated by solving a local boundary value problem in which the element residual and element boundary fluxes appear as data. In the present paper, we extend the theory to problems in linear elastostatics in two dimensions. For these problems, elliptic systems are encountered which lead to local boundary value problems for the error estimator which have nontrivial kernels. The results of numerical experiments on model problems in elastostatics are presented which suggest that the approach can be effective for general \(h-p\) finite element approximations.